Imagine 250+: Ra Ra Brunonia: Brown-Harvard Football Game

Go to the football game this weekend: a simple, yet surprisingly complex demand within the context of Brunonia. Though the air is becoming a bit more crisp and the work is beginning to pick up, we need to carry on the tradition of old and support the worthy purveyors of our athletic program (yes, we have one). The upcoming Fall Celebration for the University’s 250th Anniversary provides the perfect opportunity to make the “arduous” trek up to Brown Stadium to watch your Bears compete against the most feared hue in all the land: The Crimson. Though we understand that you may not know the rules of the game or even question why that yellow line from the TV isn’t on the field, attending the game is above all a way of channeling that often diffuse sense of school spirit. Instead of providing a general reason why you should go, it seems more appropriate to issue this “call to action” on a class-by-class basis:

Freshman:

It’s your first year on campus. There is absolutely no excuse for not attending this game–as long as you aren’t expecting a tailgate reminiscent of a Big Ten school or the pomp and circumstance of the University of Alabama (Roll Tide). The Brown-Harvard game is a wonderful way to build relationships with your peers, make a few memories, and if you are lucky, make it into that one Brown Athletics body-paint pic from the night (you know the one). Also, the game serves as a wonderful opportunity to show your friends that you, too, are having a great time in college (5-10 Facebook tags guaranteed).

Sophomores:

Admit it, you know you had a great time at the game last year. This is your time to try to replicate the experience and perhaps even enter the stadium to watch the game itself. Though we understand that time sure seems to fly by at the tailgate (for lack of a more appropriate phrase), you’ve been around the college block once before and must embody that heightened sense of maturity… but you are still very much allowed to heckle Harvard fans.

Juniors:

Though its not Copenhagen or Paris, the football game is quite possibly the only moment wherein you can make your friends abroad a tad bit jealous during the fall semester. While your normal “crew” may not be intact, the game is a perfect place to make new friends and serves as an outlet for the lingering FOMO that is slowly eating away at you. Send some snapchats, drink some “liquid,” and more importantly, be happy that it is not your Senior year.

Do not fret, your friends will be back on campus soon enough.

Seniors:

The last hurrah, the final chapter, the fourth quarter…any way you put it, it’s your last time to enjoy the Brown-Harvard football game as an undergraduate. You never expected this moment to come and it is finally time to reminisce about the many football games you have attended while at Brown (2-3 games, as a rough estimate). This game is an opportunity to celebrate Brown, to break out the sweatshirt you were too cool for after freshman year, and to enjoy time with the people that have shaped your college experience (if they even come to the game!). Interpret the following phrase as you would like: Do it big, you’ll never have a chance to do it again.

Though the reasons for attending the game vary across each class year, there is one resounding chant that relates to us all: Ra Ra Brunonia!